So we’ve finally started delivering on the project that I’ve been working on for the last 12 – 18 months. It’s fun to see my detailed designs turn into running infrastructure.

As part of this, I’ve been doing some configuration of some new Cisco 9513 and 9124e switches for our fabric. I have every intention of writing a downloadable article with some of the basic stuff, but I thought I’d do a few, smaller articles for my own reference more than anything else.

Now, most Cisco nerds will already know this stuff, but for someone like me who cut their teeth on Brocade Fabric OS, it’s a little different.

To connect to a 9124e (Cisco’s blade switch), I recommend using the HP OA’s serial connection.

Connect to the active OA via serial, login using your normal credentials and run

connect interconnect 3

This will connect you to the serial console of the first 9124e switch in the chassis. This assumes that you have other devices in bays 1 and 2, such as Cisco 3120s, or whatever.

If this is the first time you’ve connected to the switch, or if you’ve not configured it yet, you’ll get to a very useful first setup screen.

Press [Enter] to display the switch console:
  Enter the password for “admin”:
  Confirm the password for “admin”:

         —- Basic System Configuration Dialog —-

This setup utility will guide you through the basic configuration of
the system. Setup configures only enough connectivity for management
of the system.

Please register Cisco MDS 9000 Family devices promptly with your
supplier. Failure to register may affect response times for initial
service calls. MDS devices must be registered to receive entitled
support services.

Press Enter at anytime to skip a dialog. Use ctrl-c at anytime
to skip the remaining dialogs.

Would you like to enter the basic configuration dialog (yes/no): yes

  Create another login account (yes/no) [n]:

  Configure read-only SNMP community string (yes/no) [n]:

  Configure read-write SNMP community string (yes/no) [n]:

  Enter the switch name : FCswitch1

  Continue with Out-of-band (mgmt0) management configuration? (yes/no) [y]:

    Mgmt0 IPv4 address : 192.168.0.10

    Mgmt0 IPv4 netmask : 255.255.255.0

  Configure the default gateway? (yes/no) [y]:

    IPv4 address of the default gateway : 192.168.0.254

  Configure advanced IP options? (yes/no) [n]:

  Enable the ssh service? (yes/no) [y]:

    Type of ssh key you would like to generate (dsa/rsa) [rsa]:

    Number of rsa key bits <768-2048> [1024]:

  Enable the telnet service? (yes/no) [n]:

  Enable the http-server? (yes/no) [y]:

 Configure clock? (yes/no) [n]:

 Configure timezone? (yes/no) [n]:

 Configure summertime? (yes/no) [n]:

  Configure the ntp server? (yes/no) [n]:

  Configure default switchport interface state (shut/noshut) [shut]:

  Configure default switchport trunk mode (on/off/auto) [on]:

  Configure default switchport port mode F (yes/no) [n]:

  Configure default zone policy (permit/deny) [deny]:

  Enable full zoneset distribution? (yes/no) [n]:

  Configure default zone mode (basic/enhanced) [basic]:

The following configuration will be applied:
  password strength-check
  switchname FCswitch1
  interface mgmt0
    ip address 192.168.0.10 255.255.255.0
    no shutdown
  ip default-gateway 192.168.0.254
  ssh key rsa 1024 force
  feature ssh
  no feature telnet
  feature http-server
  system default switchport shutdown
  system default switchport trunk mode on
  no system default zone default-zone permit
  no system default zone distribute full
  no system default zone mode enhanced

Would you like to edit the configuration? (yes/no) [n]:

Use this configuration and save it? (yes/no) [y]:

At this point, the switch does a copy run start and reboots. For some reason we’ve been getting this error.

 Error: There was an error executing at least one of the commands
Please verify the following log for the command execution errors.
Disabling ssh: as its enabled right now:
 ssh: Cannot disable both telnet and SSH

I’ve been ignoring this error. So, too, has NX-OS. You’ll then see the following:

Would you like to save the running-config to startup-config? (yes/no) [n]: y

[########################################] 100%

The switch then reboots and you can monitor it for any errors. Once you’re satisfied with the config, use CTRL-SHIFT-_ and press d to disconnect from the 9124e terminal. The process is identical for the Cisco MDS 9513, except for the bit about it being a blade switch :)